No Time to Cry (Nine While Nine Legacy Book 1)

by Stasia Morineaux

  Fola Laws? Naw Keyun Kowrlyeh? Now what the heck was that? More to be explained…would it never end?

  I shook my head to clear away some of the thickness of all the words bouncing about in it.

  “So, if the ‘torment’ is to be given to the mhésen after the culling, then Erin and I would be there together?”

  “Exactly. You just make sure you get that mhésen to its Ingress, don’t let it wander off. Sometimes they make a run for it.” He looked at me, a glint in his eye. Was he mocking me? The very outer edges of his lips curved up, just a bit. He was! But just as quickly it slipped away. “Some mhésen are meant to have a painful corporeal departure. If a Breithiúnas is involved and you are present...you wait to make that sever until she tells you to do it...just in case.”

  “In case of what?’

  “Sometimes further offenses have been committed since the time of the issuance of the decree, and the sentence has possibly increased, from post-sever to pre-sever. Erin may then have you stay for the culling or dismiss you; it’s her call at that point.”

  I nodded. Wow.

  Note to self: Don’t do anything that will call down the wrath of the Breithiúnas.

  “She will also join you in the escort and will take the mhésen into the Ingress. You do not go into the Ingress.”

  “Where does it go…after I escort it to the Ingress?” Another note to self: look up Ingress.

  “That’s for another time as well.”

  I sighed.

  Gideon pointed my attention back to his document. “Nicklaus and Halah are our Lanmhuchadh, more commonly known as Reapers. You will always be with one of them. The Lanmhuchadh brings about the death. They do not decide who is to die” He gave me a measured look.

  “They simply make it happen, in whatever manner has been predetermined.”

  “Who makes that decision?”

  I was feeling just a tad bristly at the thought of someone having made that choice in regard to me. In my opinion, a poorly timed decision.

  “You’re getting ahead of me.” He gave me a half smile. “The Roghnú Deireadh, they deliver the death notice. They bring me the mortality declarations on a daily basis.”

  “Mortality declarations?” I grimaced. I’d been on one of those. Gideon had received some sort of memo that had caused this, had instigated my death. Set it into motion when he’d sent Liam for me.

  “So, the Roghnú Deireadh brought you a list with my name on it, and then the Lanmhuchadh in Long Beach poisoned my drink, and then Liam, the Coimhdeacht would have ushered me into an Ingress, if I wasn’t to be brought back here to become a Coimhdeacht? Is that the gist of it…in my case anyway?”

  “Yes.” He smiled. Was that a touch of satisfaction in his smile?

  There was something scratching at the back of my brain. Something that wasn’t fitting together.

  Why was I on Gideon’s list instead of someone in Los Angeles? But there wasn’t time enough to indulge myself in its exploration.

  Gideon was continuing on. “But even the Roghnú Deireadh are not the end all, be all. There’s so much more to this hidden side of the world, and true realities, and realms. But for our endeavors this night, these are what matter.”

  “So, no one here is a Row…Rownew…” I stumbled over the strange word; I’d just said it, now I couldn’t. They were all such unfamiliar words that did not sound the way they looked on the paper.

  “No. No one here is a Roghnú Deireadh.” He said it beautifully.

  I looked around the table, realizing everyone had been accounted for, except Gideon, and I already was aware of his role as, well…another unpronounceable word, but they had nicknamed him their Cerberus. The word made me think of the Greek three headed dog, the guardian. He was able to see in all directions at once. I almost laughed out loud. Gideon was our watch dog! Nearly all seeing, so it would seem; he was always able to find my whereabouts with no problem.

  “No, the Roghnú Deireadh are not part of our group. We are part of the same hierarchy with them, but our Roghnú will never be here with us.”

  “Huh.” I tilted my head. “Too good to hang with us?” I joked. Sort of.

  I couldn’t help this feeling of dislike towards this Roghnú Deireadh. Shoot the messenger and all.

  “It’s simply not what they do,” Gideon answered back.

  Was that a touch of irritation I heard in his voice? Had I struck a nerve? Was the Roghnú Deireadh something special to him? Why would it bother him not to have our Roghnú here at these meetings? That’s what I was picking up on, that’s what it felt like. Not so much an irritation with me, it seemed more with the Roghnú, I’d have to ask Liam.

  Of course, I could only do that if he decided to actually speak to me.

  “You already know my role as Caomhnoir, correct?”

  “Sure.”

  My Cerberus echoed and bounced through my head, emphasis on the word my.

  “I think I get the idea.”

  “Well then, that’s everybody.”

  “Um, no. There was something else you spoke of the other night,” I told him.

  “Na Teagmhasach Bháis?” Liam offered out.

  “That’s the one.” I confirmed.

  “Of course, yes. Na Teagmhasach Bháis—” he began.

  “Okay, wait, before we go any further. I’ve got to know. What language are you speaking?”

  Gideon’s lips curved into one of my favorite smiles. It was the one where he looked like he was trying really hard not to be amused by me, where the corners just barely hitched up and curved slightly at each side.

  The one he tried so hard to shield from reaching his eyes, but I could just see a hint of it there.

  “Some is Irish Gaelic, some Scottish. Some of it originates from Ursprache, and some is that of an ancient tongue that reaches far back to a time before the words were even written down anywhere, the language of Na Síraide Cinn. We’ve been in this realm many millennia; languages tend to altar and merge.

  Oh. Weird. An ancient language. An unwritten language. Then how was it familiar to me at all? But it was. It resonated somewhere deep in the recesses of my mind…my memories. My mhésen knew things I did not know consciously…to borrow from what he’d only just taught me.

  I heard murmurs…murmurs from not-so-distant dreams from before this particular nightmare began, but I could not quite get a hold of them. “Naw what?”

  “NA SHEERR-eh T’kinn…The Everlasting Ones.” He cocked his head slightly to the right as he viewed me, reading me, I assumed.

  Just as I began to pose another question—like what are the everlasting ones—he raised a hand to still me, and spoke again. “Another time. I only want to cover so much tonight. I promise we will get to it all.”

  I responded with a sigh and a slight shake of my head. I just wanted to hear it all and get it over with. It was all so fantastical anyway. Everything that had happened since the night of my party was just way over the top in believability, so might as well just keep pouring it on and let me absorb what I could, because it just kept getting more and more complicated and mind-boggling.

  “So, Na Teagmhasach Bháis. NA TAHG-wa-saikh WAISH. You say the ‘ch’ as you would in loch, softly, back of the tongue, in the throat.” He explained, sounding it out for me. We are Na Teagmhasach Bháis, The Contingency of Death.”

  “Wow…okay. Appropriate.” Tongue, throat, soft…shut up brain.

  “That’s about it where it concerns us directly.” He looked at me appraisingly. “How is all that sitting? Making sense?”

  “It’s getting there,” I told him and finished off my glass of wine. I was on overload.

  A good bout of loud music and mindless dancing was sounding better and better after this evening. My mind was wrapping all around the new facts, it was just…it was all just insanely astonishing…edging towards distressful.

  How on Earth was I expected, could I be expected, to cut someone’s spirit or soul or whatever from them, to help t
hem die?

  How long would it take me to be able to pronounce these strange new words?

  “Are you alright?” Liam asked in a voice edged with unease.

  “Sure. I guess. It’s just…a lot.”

  “You look a little green, a little off.” Michael told me.

  “Oh. Do I?” I wasn’t surprised. “Well, I guess having my entire belief system shredded within an hour’s time can do that.”

  I couldn’t look green in this dress. No way. I was here to make an impression.

  I wrote about things this extraordinary and mind boggling, it’s how I made a living. I almost laughed again with the irony of it. I wrote about it, now I was living it. Maybe I could still make a side living as a writer. This story…my story…sure would be a doozy!

  I could handle this. I had to handle this. It’s not like I was alone in it. And hey! At least I hadn’t had a Breithiúnas set loose upon me to torture me.

  I mentally gathered myself, bolstered my reserves. I could feel Gideon watching me, waiting, probably to see if I’d snap and dash off again, as I had the other night.

  “So, this list of the soon to be deceased, the Rownu…” I tried to get the word to come from my mouth properly, but forget it, that may be even harder to accomplish than buying into everything being told to me, “whatever…brings it to you?”

  “Yes.”

  “And then what?”

  Gideon smiled slightly. Was he actually pleased with my questions? I figured he would be frustrated with my inquisitiveness. He’d explained, in what should be considered a rather thorough manner, so why was I still asking questions?

  “I look it over, see what needs to be done, then I either call or text you with your instructions. There may be days I call you all in for a meeting here and I’ll give your assignments directly to you. There may be days when you don’t have any…work.”

  I vaguely noticed that all the others, minus Liam whom was still seated across from me, had moved on from the table.

  I guess dinner was done.

  Gideon pushed his chair back. “If you’re finished,” he indicated my plate with a wave of a hand, “we can move to more relaxed seating also.”

  He rescued the wine and our glasses from the table as Janice returned and began clearing.

  We settled into two comfortable arm chairs that faced each other at the west end of the room.

  He set the wine and the glasses on a small table between us.

  Liam had joined the others; they were going downstairs for coffee. I didn’t want coffee. Normally I would love some about now, but I thought wine was much more suited for the kind of discussion we were having.

  A rush of apprehension, and some small bit of excited anticipation, at being alone with Gideon circled my heart, threatening to break down my careful veneer of self assurance.

  I smoothed my hands over my waist, over the corseted bodice of the dress and across the skirt. I fluffed and teased the down of the soft petticoat portion, while he poured the wine.

  I was very pleased to catch him watching my movements. Pretending not to notice, I crossed my ankles, played with a ringlet of my hair while looking out the window, watching the remaining tree leaves jostle in the wind, feeling his eyes on me.

  A secret thrill ran through me, a sense or power.

  I turned my eyes to him and he handed me my glass, his features were composed, unreadable.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” He reclined back into his chair, crossed his legs, contemplating something.

  Me? The situation?

  I turned my attention back out the window, to the night, unable to keep looking at him, it just confused me. And why wasn’t Liam here. He was the other Coimhdeacht. Shouldn’t he be here? I don’t know…teaching me or something?

  “So, tomorrow, assuming you can break away from your redecorating for a while, will be your first day.”

  I looked back at him, mildly shocked. I’d have to start already? I had to cull, or Coimhdeacht, or whatever already?

  “Already?”

  “No point in waiting. We need to get you out there.”

  I wasn’t quite sure how I felt. There was a part of me that had accepted this fate, and even a small part that was excited at the idea of being a part of all this. It was so completely bizarre and yet extraordinarily remarkable. Again, like something I would create for one of my novels. Something from my dream worlds. But there was a little bit of me that was still hesitant.

  I’d be killing. Well, technically, Halah and Nicklaus would be responsible for that part, but I’d be their follow up.

  “You’re reprieve is over. You’ve had three days to come to terms with this—” he started.

  “I know,” I interrupted. “I get that.” I bit my lip. So much to grasp. I bobbed my head in compliance.

  I looked to him. “Okay.”

  “That’s my girl.” He smiled, pleased.

  My girl

  It echoed through me.

  I looked towards the door of the room, so he hopefully wouldn’t see how those two words affected me.

  “So how do I do it? Will I be with Nicklaus or Halah?”

  “I’ve got you with Halah tomorrow. Liam will be with you, he’ll show you the ropes. You are just to shadow him for the first appointment…” He paused, looking me over to see how I was taking this tidbit of news. “The second one will be for you to take care of.”

  “Wow. Just throwing me right into the deep end, huh?” I said in jest. He did not take it that way.

  “It’s the best way, most effectual. We really don’t have time for anymore coddling.”

  Like I was being given a choice in the matter anyway.

  “Coddling? Wow.” I leaned forward and sat my glass down. “Is that what all of this has been?” He had managed to do it again…hit that nerve, punched that button, set my temper ablaze.

  “Now Iliana,” his voice a warning, “before you fly out of here, yes, I’ve given you more forbearance, and more considerations than any other tyro I’ve ever had.”

  We were now in something of a heated staring contest, not the yummy-sexy kind either, but that thought warmed my face and I had to look away. Why had he? Why the extra kindness? I was curious, kind of beyond.

  “Why?” I turned back to him, narrowing my eyes at him. “Why the special treatment?”

  “Why?” He nearly growled, as he threw the question back at me.

  He seemed royally pissed and put upon that I could even ask such a thing. “Could it be that we spent nearly an entire day getting you back here, your first night looking for you after you pulled what seems to be your trademark disappearing act, and the next afternoon searching for you again? Then I give you two days in hopes that you might wrap your sweet little mind around this concept of what we are and what we do…of what you are now, and what is expected of you. We cannot play these games for even one more day.”

  His response was not satisfactory.

  He explained the 'what' not the 'why'.

  I was referring to his coddling, he seemed to still be stuck on everything that I had done wrong, my poor behavior. He had not answered why I had received this unique treatment; instead he had skirted the issue with what was obvious fact and moved on in his criticism.

  ”Do you know yet why I’m different? Have you found anything out?” I could sound just as overburdened as his tone conveyed.

  “No.” His answer was surly, clipped.

  Coddling me. Damn, that rubbed me the wrong way. But whatever.

  At least I’d be with Liam. Let’s see how easy it was for him to ignore me when we had to work together.

  The silence stretched out for a few heartbeats, with him not offering any resolution.

  “Fine. When? How?” I was ready to get out of here. I felt like I was losing any hold I might have had over him with the way I looked. Other than an occasional fleeting glance of what might be appreciation, I didn’t seem to possess all that much sway over h
im.

  And I wasn’t even sure why that exactly bothered me in the slightest.

  Or why I kept thinking of his mouth, his breath on my cheek, so close to my lips.

  Stop, stop, stop.

  “Does Liam know?”

  “Yes. And there is to be no fighting. And no taking off and doing one of your vanishing acts,” he lectured. “Liam will be at your place at nine in the morning. You’ll meet up with Halah after that.”

  “Fine,” I repeated. I wanted so much to hate him. Why couldn’t I feel hate for him? Why did I have to feel this, this…what the hell was this? This inclination to not leave the room or move away from him when that was exactly what I wanted to do the most?

  Wasn’t it?

  “It doesn’t have to be this way, Iliana. There doesn’t have to be this relentless clashing between us. This is your life now, your job. The sooner you really accept it, quit fighting it…me…at every turn, the better off you will be.”

  “I said okay.”

  “Merely words,” he admonished. Why did that sting?

  “I’ll be ready at nine. You’ll get your cull.” I rose gracefully, again smoothing my hands down the length of my dress, my body, watching him from under my lashes, watching something rise in his eyes. Hmm, that had worked perfectly. “Make sure Liam’s on time. I don’t like to be kept waiting,” I remarked icily as I strode from the room, head held high.

  He didn’t utter a word. I was mildly shocked. He didn’t say a single word, or try to stop me.

  But I could feel his eyes on me, following me.

  I made it out of Elysium without encountering any of the others, the Contingency of Death—I couldn’t even begin to pronounce the words he’d said…I’d have to make a point of getting a copy of that chart, so I could get them all fixed in my brain.

  I shook my head. So much weirdness. All so much like something I’d write about. And it was my life now. I did giggle, now that I was alone, with the night, and the wind. This life was a gothic girl’s fantasy come true. I needed to find a way to embrace it. Why not, right?